November 11th – Remembrance Day In Australia

By Anton Lang ~

On the 5th October 1918, the German High Command asked for an immediate Armistice and an end to hostilities. The date and time for the ceasefire to commence was at 11AM on November 11th 1918, effectively the finish of The Great War, which we now refer to as World War One. This is why we celebrate Remembrance Day.

In the United States, you refer to it as Veterans Day.

All across Australia there were gatherings to commemorate the day at that time of 11AM, and there was a general minute of silence at 11AM across most of Australia.

To mark the occasion, the Sydney Opera House was lit up with images of poppies shown on the ‘sails’.

Way back in 2009, I wrote a Post for Remembrance Day, and wrote about General Sir John Monash, who is considered to be one of the best Allied generals of the First World War and the most famous commander in Australian history. He served as a senior Officer at the Gallipoli Campaign, where Australia, in its first time as a military force under its own command, distinguished itself as one of the finest fighting forces of that War. After that Campaign, the Australians were sent to The Western Front in France, and here was where Monash really distinguished himself.

Lieutenant General Sir John Monash in 1918

He meticulously planned The Battle Of Hamel on the 4th of July 1918. He asked for the newly arrived Americans to be included as part of the force for the battle, and the American General, Pershing was not willing to allow that, as U.S. forces could not serve under foreign leadership. Monash had specifically planned the Battle with the inclusion of the Americans, and even selected the day for the Battle as the 4th of July. Half that original American force did participate in the Battle, without the knowledge of Pershing, and while the Battle was a monumental success, the Americans also distinguished themselves. The whole battle was over in 93 minutes, three minutes longer than Monash had planned for, and was one of the most decisive victories to that point of the War. A number of Americans were recommended for honours for their bravery, and they received the second highest British award for bravery, and one of them Thomas Pope, was belatedly recommended for The Medal Of Honor. Pope went on to live a full life, and when he finally passed away in 1989, he was the last of the World War One Medal Of Honor recipients to die.

Monash, from then on was given more and more command, and after the decisive victory at the Battle of Amiens on August the 8th, this one single engagement caused the German senior officer General Ludendorff to realise that the War was lost, and he actually stated that this was Germany’s blackest day of the whole War. It was the single most decisive victory of the War, and the biggest breakthrough for the Allied Forces. Just after this battle, Monash was knighted on the battlefield by King George the Fifth, the first time a ruling monarch had been on a battlefield for more than 200 years.

From then on, the Germans suffered defeat after defeat, culminating in the German High Command asking for that immediate Armistice. So the rest of the War took barely three Months after four long years of stalemate, and Monash was at the very forefront of all those final three Months.

At the end of the War, Monash stayed on in England to arrange the extensive repatriation of all Australian troops back to Australia. He arrived back in Australia, as what we would now refer to as an absolute superstar. He was instrumental in continuing the remembrance of ANZAC Day, the 25th of April , the anniversary of that first landing at Gallipoli, and one of Australia’s most reverential days on the calendar. Also, after the War, he was promoted to Full General to recognise his achievements during the War.

Link to my original Post on General Sir John Monash.

On this day, we remember all of those men who didn’t come home after this War, and further Wars, and we also give honour to those who are currently still serving ….. in our name.

Anton Lang uses the screen name of TonyfromOz, and he writes at this site, PA Pundits International on topics related to electrical power generation, from all sources, concentrating mainly on Renewable Power, and how the two most favoured methods of renewable power generation, Wind Power and all versions of Solar Power, fail comprehensively to deliver levels of power required to replace traditional power generation. His Bio is at this link.

Tagged: Remembrance Day, Veterans Day

Posted in: Australia, Freedom, History, Peace, Public Opinion